As long as he lives, Geoff Ogilvy will never forget the look on Phil Mickelson’s face as they stood on 18th green at Winged Foot a year ago.
“Phil doesn’t often look uncomfortable … and he looked decidedly uncomfortable on that 18th green,” Ogilvy said as he recalled his stunning U.S. Open victory last June. “He was still pretty shaken up.”
Minutes before that awkward awards ceremony on the 18th green was Mickelson’s sadistically public implosion on that hole, where he needed a mere par to win his third consecutive major championship but finished with the most agonizing double bogey of his life.
“It was really hard to see him like that because he was shaken up,” Ogilvy said. “And it was sad. You don’t want to see anyone do that. I’m happy that I won the U.S. Open, but you’d much prefer everyone else be happy as well.
“Phil walked away from that tournament and had his destiny in his hand. It’s an empty feeling. It’s not that nice to be sitting there thinking ‘I’m happy’ and someone else is not.”
Indeed, if you look up the word “bittersweet” in the dictionary, you’ll see that Ogilvy Open victory moment.
New York has many rabid Mickelson fans. Since Mickelson made a spirited run at Tiger Woods in the 2002 Open at Bethpage Black, a curious but compelling bond has formed between the native Californian and New Yorkers.
So as Mickelson was standing on the 18th tee in that final round at Winged Foot, celebratory anticipation engulfed the thick, humid Westchester air.
The galleries, swelling with fans, were poised to explode with glee as Mickelson would par out to secure his first U.S. Open title and take hold of the golf world previously owned by Woods.
What transpired you know all too well: the errant drive off the corporate tent; the next shot bounding off a tree and back toward Mickelson’s feet; the following shot burying itself into a deep bunker; and the end-result double.
That left the galleries and the golf world stunned; it left Mickelson frozen in shock; and it left Ogilvy, who made a wonderful up-and-down for par minutes earlier, the accidental tourist champion.
All of that led to the awards ceremony, where Ogilvy accepted the trophy with Mickelson, almost always wearing a boyish smile, staring off into nowhere with an utterly dazed look on his face.
Unfairly, last year’s U.S. Open has been – and forever will be – remembered as the Open that Mickelson blew, not the Open that Ogilvy won.
“The more time has passed, the more I’m comfortable with it, because the trophy hasn’t been taken away from my mantel,” Ogilvy said. “It’s still there.”
Beginning Thursday with the opening round of this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, near Pittsburgh, Ogilvy will try to become the first player since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 to defend his Open title.
To accomplish that, he’ll have to fend off another run by Mickelson, who craves his first U.S. Open title, and the presence of Woods, who missed the cut at last year’s Open.
What always will be there in Ogilvy’s head is his own close to the tournament.
“Specifically, the first things that come to my head were the last five shots I made: chipping in on 17 and (parring) 18,” he said. “I haven’t forgotten the rest of it, but the things that are clearest in my memory are those last five shots.”
Ogilvy, an affable Australian who’s well-liked by almost everyone he comes in contact with, said he’s OK with last year’s Open being known more for Mickelson losing it than for him winning it.
“I don’t really mind people’s perception of it, because if people really look at it, I parred the last four holes and no one else (in contention) did,” Ogilvy said.
Ogilvy recalled a poignant moment that spurred him in that final round. He received a special message from former LPGA great and current TV analyst Judy Rankin, whom he knows well because his wife’s sister is married to Rankin’s son.
“Judy gave me a message on Sunday morning saying, ‘The whole day you’ve got to remember that everyone opens the paper on Monday morning and is surprised by what score has won the U.S. Open; it’s always higher than what they imagined,'” Ogilvy said. “I was no question thinking about that with four or five holes to play.
“That was one of the most amazing pieces of advice I ever heard that actually came true. That was a pretty wise bit of advice from a pretty good golf brain.”
